Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council

(as on 10.03.2017 after MLA quota elections)

The Legislative Council of Andhra Pradesh (or the Andhra Pradesh Vidhan Parishad) is a the upper house of the legislature of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh; the lower house being the Andhra Pradesh Vidhan Sabha. It is situated in the state capital of Hyderabad, and has 58 members. The Vidhan Parishad has been in existence in two spells - from 1958 to 1985, and from 2007 till date.

In the first years since its creation in post-independence India, the state of Andhra Pradesh worked under a unicameral parliamentary system. On December 5, 1956 the Andhra Pradesh Vidhana Sabha passed a resolution calling for the creation of an upper house, the Vidhan Parishad, to transition to a bicameral system. The Vidhan Parishad was formed officially on July 1, 1958 under article 168 of the Constitution of India. The first President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad inaugurated the Vidhan Parishad on July 8.

In the 1980s, Andhra Pradesh became one of the first states to seek the abolition of the upper houses, which were being increasingly criticised as being unnecessary, unrepresentative of the population, a burden on the state budget and causing delays in passing legislation. However, the move was criticised as an attempt by the then-ruling party, the Telegu Desam Party (TDP), to deny their main political opposition, the Indian National Congress (then Congress (I)) of influence in the state government and the control of the upper house, which could delay TDP-sponsored legislation and where the TDP held no seats. In accordance with a resolution passed by the Andhra Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, the Indian Parliament abolished the Vidhan Parishad through the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council (Abolition) Act in 1985, after the Congress (I) suffered a major defeat in the state elections in Andhra Pradesh.